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This forum is amazing. 3 days after I asked if there would be any chance of a multi, and this is where it’s at.
Maybe this cart needs a code name of: Lightspeed

But joke's on us, because NOR flash of this size take a while to erase (approx 4min40sec per flash chip). There are nor flash chips that erase fast, but the max capacity for those is 32mbit. We're using 3 x 1024mbit chips.

:D

As this a proof of concept design, I included the circuit for the security pic for further testing. Decided to go with a CPLD (like a mini fpga) for bank switching (selecting games) and being able to maximize flash usage for different size roms.

crystal_system_multi-r001.PNG


cs_pcb_logo_preview.PNG
 
@brizzo if you happen to have spares I'd very much like to buy one.
That is a lot of confidence I did not make any mistakes :D

I will order this first proof of concept just for testing then revise for a final version that will be produced with hard gold plating on the edge connector ($$$). Prototypes get HASL :evil:
 
@brizzo I got a Evolution Soccer cart which I hope to use the shell of for the multi. I assume the PCB will fit in the cart fine?

What’s the estimated cost you think?
 
As for Atomiswave, got a DigiKey shipment today, sending out some packages to my testers next week ;)
Does this change anything tho, you know what i'm waiting for ;)
This forum is amazing. 3 days after I asked if there would be any chance of a multi, and this is where it’s at.
Maybe this cart needs a code name of: Lightspeed
Not kidding, you are ridiculously fast at making pcb's. It looks great too :)

This forum is amazing. 3 days after I asked if there would be any chance of a multi, and this is where it’s at
So, like, you guys know anything about namco system 10/11/12 ? :thumbsup:
I cracked a couple of system 11 games, very similar to the NA1 etc there is no easy way for a multi due to the way the roms are laid out.
If anyone has the ability to program the old type flash roms required and free time to fuck with it, just ask and i'll send over some tester games.
 
there is no easy way for a multi due to the way the roms are laid out.
so @brizzo needs a full week this time?

How about a repro base board that you plug the original ps board into? Two weeks?? :thumbup:
 
@brizzo I got a Evolution Soccer cart which I hope to use the shell of for the multi. I assume the PCB will fit in the cart fine?

What’s the estimated cost you think?
I don't have any carts with a shell so I cannot say for sure. Could you post some photos showing the inside of the shell? The pcb is dimensions and drill holes are the same as an original, but the DIP switch may be too tall. The part I selected is 7.65mm tall.

No comment on price as of yet, design is not final.
 
This forum is amazing. 3 days after I asked if there would be any chance of a multi, and this is where it’s at
So, like, you guys know anything about namco system 10/11/12 ? :thumbsup:
I know the hardware is different enough between the 3 to make a multi difficult to impossible :(

Before you even get to IC level differences, System 12 is JVS

I'd be happy to hear I'm wrong though
 
I don't have any carts with a shell so I cannot say for sure. Could you post some photos showing the inside of the shell? The pcb is dimensions and drill holes are the same as an original, but the DIP switch may be too tall. The part I selected is 7.65mm tall.
I've taken photos of the Evolution Soccer cart internals for you. I'm not sure I would even bother mounting it in a cart because I'd have to open it up to set the DIP switches.

soccer-cart-1.JPG


soccer-cart-2.JPG


soccer-cart-3.JPG


Bonus pics: For those who haven't seen the system, here are photos of it beside an Ashtray and a DVD to show how small it actually is.

crystal-ashtray.JPG


crystal-dvd.JPG
 
PCBs have shipped and are on their way! I sent the design in later than planned, went away for the weekend. Will probably be here Monday next week.

Tonight I took a closer look at the MAME driver and ROMs and I noticed that there is code to emulate reading the flash device id. All flash memory has an id code (this is how your chip programmer can identify manufacturer/model of device). I edited the MAME source code to use a different ID so I could test if the game would fail, and in fact several of the games check to make sure the correct flash device id is returned and if it's wrong the game crashed and will not boot.

After a bunch of research I was able to solve how and where to patch the game executable stored inside the rom so it will work with any flash device id. It turns out crystal system games have a file system storing data in files and folders. I had to reverse engineer how to locate and extract files from rom, mainly the game executable as it's not stored in a static location like most other arcade games. If anyone is interested I can share the tool for extracting all the files into folders, kind of neat to see the graphics and things. Some games use bitmap/pcx, others are proprietary. Music is stored in S3M format which is common.

Progress!
 
Isn't that how N64 games are stored as well? (With a file system on the ROM.) Always interesting to see tracker formats pop up in places like this, I thought it was limited to Amiga and PC games developed in the west...
 
Isn't that how N64 games are stored as well? (With a file system on the ROM.) Always interesting to see tracker formats pop up in places like this, I thought it was limited to Amiga and PC games developed in the west...
Generally no, but some games may have.

@nem @ekorz Here is the file extractor to play around with! You will need to combine the split roms into one file.

ie; crystal kings
copy /b bcsv0004f01.u1 + bcsv0004f02.u2 + bcsv0004f03.u3 crysking.bin
bcs_fs_extract crysking.bin

It will create a directory based on the input filename (crysking), then extract files to that directory. It will also save a text log with details about where the files are located in the rom

:)
 

Attachments

  • bcs_fs_extract_v01.zip
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Not presuming you're gonna bugfix this, more in case anyone else has trouble:

Running win7 64 bit it crashes upon execution. It says "extracting 2534 files to crysking" but then dies.
making the directory manually (mkdir crysking) then running the exe results in success, though.

windows 10 gives me: exception EInOutError in module bcs_fs_extract.exe at 00007A09 unable to create directory
once again making the directory manually made it work, though the extraction took significantly longer and I'm not sure why.

Sadly all the music, the s3m files, are just sad hack jobs and not actual music modules like I was hoping. It looks like they wrote and sequenced all the music somewhere else entirely,. They took those recordings, dumped it to .wav, converted it to 8bit 8360hz (which is borderline criminal if you ask me) and re-assembled it in with an s3m tracker. That approach does save file space, but it's not at all using a tracker to write the music.

Anyway thanks for the tool, that was fun!
 
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